What's happening--my current concerns at all levels of government

There are a few things on my mind--
1) Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives are going to be held accountable at the next election cycle, as they have demonstrated that they are some of the most heartless elected officials in the country. They won't accept federal funding that would allow children whose families are at 50% of the poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid (Missouri state legislators are apparently proud of the current situation in which eligiblility limits are at 20% of the poverty level--$4,410 annual income for a family of four)...
http://www.kansascity.com/340/story/1083427.html
We need to let these Republican legislators know, when they return from their Spring Break next week, that this kind of nonsense must end.
http://www.senate.mo.gov/08info/senalpha.htm
Republicans in close proximity to Kansas City are Matt Bartle, Luann Ridgeway, and Charlie Shields.

2) Although we would like to think that rational thinking has prevailed, with the election of Barack Obama as President, there is still a lot of work to be done. We need to prevent the folks without a responsible plan for getting our economy back on track (some of whom are the same people who actually created the current economic train wreck) from derailing the Obama Administration's plan to create jobs and growth through spending to address the spheres that will have the most significant and enduring impact on our future viability--education, energy, and health care. I don't know if I will have the personal energy to jump into this as strongly as I did with the campaign to elect Barack Obama President (calling, holding house parties, canvassing), but I will see what is asked of me--I took the pledge to support Obama's http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/pledgeproject


3) I am definitely fired up about the Hands Off/All Hands On Campaign to create world class schools in the Kansas City MO School District, by organizing and facilitating widespread community engagement. Members of the leadership team and all those involved were Obama volunteers or staff. I have been interviewing school principals for the campaign, to find out what is going well in their schools, and how they could use people and resources from the community to do even better. Once the state legislative session ends, and the effort to have an appointed board run the KCMSD schools is behind us, Hands Off will become the All Hands On Campaign. (No one working for an appointed board is willing to say publicly who would do the appointing and who would be appointed. I feel that we should use the democratic process to elect a board that will get the job done, rather than giving away our power to elect people who will, ultimately, be accountable to us, the electorate).

Kathleen!

As much as Kansas needs Kathleen Sebelius, our entire country needs her even more. The often-quoted philosophy that "everything happens for a reason" helps put this all in perspective. Tom Daschle's woes and other national and Kansas events have reinforced this notion that there is some kind of master plan that we cannot comprehend as it is playing out, but which leads us to ends we cannot always imagine, sometimes even in our wildest dreams. Kathleen Sebelius being Secretary of Health and Human Services is wild only insofar as we are wildly happy that such an important U.S. Department will be under her leadership. The idea of someone with as rich and unique a personal history as Barack Obama being our president is only wild insofar as it violates the stereotype of who HAS been President; but it is totally consistent with the core values and the guiding principles of this country, as outline in the United States Constitution.

Education, Health Care, the Environment!

What better way to get our economy going, improve quality of life for all Americans, and start to close the otherwise increasingly large gap between rich and poor Americans than to spend generously on education, health care, and the environment, as Barack Obama has proposed to do, with his budget plan? President Obama is doing exactly what he promised. This is why we elected him. These initiatives will positively impact the economy, make us more secure, and enhance the sustainability of the entire Earth. Despite whatever disappointments people who consider themselves more progressive than Barack have had, surely we can all celebrate these brilliant and exceedlingly forward-thinking plans! And we can pray that the American people demonstrate the will to achieve what pretty much everyone says we need.